diff --git a/fs/ntfs3/index.c b/fs/ntfs3/index.c
index 6d1bf890929d..717e7ffe3474 100644
--- a/fs/ntfs3/index.c
+++ b/fs/ntfs3/index.c
@@ -1164,6 +1164,8 @@ int indx_find(struct ntfs_index *indx, struct ntfs_inode *ni,
 	fnd_clear(fnd);
 
 	/* Lookup entry that is <= to the search value. */
+	if (key_len == 0) 
+		return -EINVAL;
 	e = hdr_find_e(indx, &root->ihdr, key, key_len, ctx, diff);
 	if (!e)
 		return -EINVAL;